Ranked #11 in popularity, chemistry is one of the most sought-after doctor's degree programs in the nation. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 2 schools in Pennsylvania to determine which ones were the best for chemistry students pursuing a doctor's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 126 doctor's degrees in chemistry to qualified students.
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Early-Career Earnings
One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of doctorate graduates during the early years of their career. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their doctor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.
Other Factors We Consider
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to chemistry students as compared to other majors.
Major Demand - How many other chemistry students want to attend this school to pursue a doctor's degree.
Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
Student Debt - How easy is it for chemistry to pay back their student loans after receiving their doctor's degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized chemistry related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for chemistry students working on their doctor's degree.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Chemistry Doctor's Degree Schools in Pennsylvania list, to help you choose the best school for you.
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University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus is a wonderful decision for students pursuing a doctor's degree in chemistry. Pitt is a very large public university located in the large city of Pittsburgh.
Chemistry doctor's degree recipients from University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus get an earnings boost of approximately $7,267 over the average earnings of chemistry graduates.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.